Contemplation is perhaps one of our greatest assets to living well. Yet, in a world of quick results, needing things to happen quickly, and jumping from thing to thing, it’s easy to skip the process. Last year, I took time to invest in nothing but contemplation. It wasn’t on purpose. It just happened. The realization that what is missing is nothing more than a lack of contemplation. A lack of inspection, observation, examination, and even awareness.
I’m going to spend much of the upcoming year speaking to the need for contemplation. Slowing down to simply get curious. To contemplate and ask different questions. To see both sides. To understand not just what is known, but what is unknown. And, even to ask the infamous “what-if” questions.
Really, it’s a year of looking, not avoiding. And I think we will all be amazed at how much that benefits us more than anything else.
Make 2026 A Year of Looking, Not Avoiding.
With that said, I’ve spent the last month contemplating the incoming and outgoing health trends. Not because I love “trends,” but because trends are part of the cultural impact on people. I think it’s important to know how we, as a society, are shifting our view of health and what that might mean for you.
We are all, on some level, influenced by trends, either creating them or existing within them. And I like to think about how much change we can have on the earth by choosing what to engage with. What if we became trend setters, not followers?
I must preface this article by stating that, beyond the statistics pointing to health trends, much of this is opinion. What I believe is on its way out and what is on its way in for 2026 (and which ones I’m loving and leaving). You can read my personal in’s and out’s for the coming year here.
But to start, here’s my take on what’s leaving and what’s coming this year.
The trends on their way out:
01. Over Supplement Use
Supplements aren’t going anywhere. They can be a necessary support to the body. But what is on its way out is the confusion around supplements and the belief that a supplement is the fix you need. There is no one supplement that will “cure” you. And people are exhausted by endless voices claiming their supplement is the answer. The confusion is tiring.
We’re moving back to awareness, basics, and simplicity. We’re moving toward a less-is-more strategy for the body.
02. Mimicry | Artificial ideas
Especially in the age of AI, we’re becoming more aware of what isn’t truthful or aligned. We’re naturally getting better at spotting what’s fake. That includes fabricated information, unsupported claims, and ideas without lived experience behind them. We’re over frauds. And because of this, we’re moving closer to what’s real.
03. Processed foods | Fast food
Whether it’s the rising cost of groceries or eating out, or simply discernment sharpening across the board, we’re starting to identify what’s real and what’s fake in our food systems, too. As we learn to discern artificial information, we’re also learning to discern artificial food. Highly processed foods, even the “healthy” ones, are beginning to decline in favor of food grown from the earth. Especially within the fast food world.
04. Gentle Health
There is a place for gentle health. But I believe this movement was a response to the extreme restriction and deprivation of the past. It was born out of the balancing of the “no pain, no gain” era. While we’re not going back to that, I do think we’re finding a more neutral middle ground. One that balances effort and stress with play and rest. A more natural, energizing state of the body.
05. External Seeking
AI is accelerating human evolution faster than we’ve seen before. With the overload of artificial everything, we’re being forced inward to discern what’s true. This puts more emphasis on how you feel and what you sense, rather than what you’re told. It’s a move away from what’s external and towards the internal. And that’s a good thing. Especially if you use it intentionally and choose how (and what) you engage with externally.
06. Overspending | overconsuming | over-everything
Similar to gentle health, I think our overconsumption phase was birthed out of a season of lack. The pendulum swung. And now it’s swinging back. We’re stuffed. And we’re ready to be more intentional. There’s a shift coming toward choice over impulse. We’re moving toward spending, consuming, and living with purpose rather than need.
07. Chasing Health
We’ve chased health for centuries. But the chase is exhausting. Masking problems creates bigger ones. And people are starting to see through it. I believe we’re loosening our grip on the traditional health model and beginning to recognize the body not as a problem to fix, but as something to understand and support.
08. Excessive Caffeine
I might be going out on a limb with this one, especially considering energy drinks were one of the most popular drinks sold last year, jumping just behind alcohol and soda in beverage sales. But with that rise, we’re beginning to see the consequences. It’s not always the thing that’s on the rise, but the amount (that goes for more than just caffeine). I believe awareness around excessive caffeine will grow, and with it, create a gradual decline.
09. Time-Constraints | The Way We Plan
Planning certainly isn’t going anywhere. In fact, I’d argue that paper planning is making a comeback. What is on its way out is time-based living. The boxing life into hours and minutes, counting your life in minutes lived rather than moments made. Instead, the world is shifting towards a new form of planning, one that uses time but is not controlled by it.
10. Mind-based healing
Lastly, I believe the traditional model of health and mental health is shifting from mind- and logic-based forms of medicine and therapy to a more embodied approach. We’ve separated mind and body for so long that we’ve overlooked the immense power of their connection. But that is changing, as healing is becoming more holistic. There is a rise in wholeness and the connection of understanding health not just as a mind or body, but as your mind, body, and soul working together.
Separate care is giving way to whole care.
The trends on their way in:
01. Natural Light | The Healing Power of The Sun
We’ve been taught the sun is dangerous, and we’ve accepted it as truth. But as new research (and a good amount of it) begins to pour in, it’s finding the sun isn’t as dangerous as once thought, but it’s actually beneficial to nearly every single function of the body. Including the decline and healing of numerous disease processes. While moderation matters, research increasingly shows that humans require sunlight to function optimally.
Lighting, whether natural or artificial, impacts us at a cellular level. As the year progresses, expect to see more movement toward natural lighting, better blue-light protection, and more intentional sun exposure.
02. Uniqueness | Intimacy
We’re moving away from one-size-fits-all health and understanding that individuality matters. To honor uniqueness, intimacy in all forms will be a focus. This is the opposite of mimicry. And it’s needed. We can no longer put everyone in the same box or attempt to heal in the same way. Health requires the inward movement that is a form of intimacy, a deep knowing of yourself and others that becomes the pathway of growth.
03. Reclaiming Family Structures
Along with number two, we elevate that intimacy by returning to honoring, respecting, and supporting family structures and communities. Not in outdated or harmful ways, but in supportive, community-based ways. You can expect a return to strengthening the systems we live within in the coming years. I believe this trend will have the greatest impact on the world.
04. Spiritual Growth
Likewise, given our uniqueness and the overall health we’re seeking, you’ll see a trend toward spirituality. Yes, health and spirituality are reconnecting. This doesn’t mean conformity. It means alignment. We’re rediscovering how spiritual connection impacts everything we do, including our ability to thrive.
05. Healthy Body Structure
I know this one feels eerily similar to the trends we willingly and thankfully kicked to the curb a decade ago. The same ones that ushered in the body love movement. But let’s be honest, neither really helped us to understand or even respect why we have so much fascination with body image to begin with.
On some level, we’re all deeply fascinated by body image, not out of vanity, but out of need. The movement back toward body structure is not about image (although it does impact this), but out of body integrity. It’s the understanding that structure influences capacity. And capacity changes how you move through life.
06. Strength Building
This made the list last year. It’s still rising, but with more flexibility. You’re going to see more trends in muscle building and structure building, specifically in numerous different forms. Don’t get lost in the system; focus on the process, knowing there are many ways to support it. The key is building a healthy structure and letting that evolve with you.
07. Simple foods | Old Practices
The sourdough boom wasn’t random. And it wasn’t just from the trad wife movement. There is a trend back toward a simpler way of living and eating, and doing so with a good dose of creativity. In the process, you’ll see a rise in simple foods and traditional practices (such as baking more sourdough or making homemade yogurt). Plus, simpler foods are cheaper, grounding, and nourishing. Cooking, baking, and growing are all coming back.
08. Body-Based Healing
Body-based healing is coming in and coming in fast. That doesn’t discount mind-based healing, but even traditional “talk therapy” is getting upgraded to therapies such as somatic release. Healing is moving toward supporting your body so it can support your mind and soul. It’s going to be less about specific systems and more about how those systems work together, and more specifically, knowing what they need. It’s the full embodiment of healing.
Think less talking and hacking and more resourcing.
09. Cellular | Mitochondrial Support
Resourcing is coming in hot and thankfully. It’s the neutrality we’ve all been seeking that is not about checking a box or keeping a score, but it’s simply about proving more of what your body needs. It all goes back to energy. Energy health is foundational. Supporting cells support everything else. This is the neutrality we all seek. Not rules, not scores, just provision. This year, expect there to be an emphasis on cellular support.
10. A Rise In Creativity and Color
Lastly, I think we’re moving into a space of more creativity and color. Which, naturally, happens when trends move toward resourcing and supporting your body. Creativity is a function of your energy. It expands as your energy expands.
If you’ve noticed, we’ve been living in a bland, colorless, low-creativity state for a while. You can get a clear view of this from Pinterest trends over the past 10 years and how they’re trending today. We’re moving away from the “white-everything” style back into color, patterns, and true design features.
From homes to health to fashion to identity, life is becoming vibrant again.
If the trends are correct, there is a lot to be excited about!
Honestly, if my predictions are correct and the movement really does trend towards these things, I’m really excited for what’s ahead. But I also want to remind you, this isn’t going to happen linearly. Nothing does.
The way of transformation is never black and white. It’s a process of shedding the old as you learn to live in the new. Don’t get too frustrated. Trust the process and start with contemplation.
Ask yourself: What isn’t working anymore? What am I ready to release? What would it look like to fuel myself so I can fuel my purpose?
Health isn’t about more information. It’s about wisdom. And wisdom comes from lived experience.
If you want support in resourcing your body, I’m hosting a 4-Week class called: You Are Your Best Health Tool. It’s focused on action, not overwhelm. And it will revolutionize how you approach health by creating a lived experience of more energy.
Join the waitlist here.
